Wear ALL the Babies!!!!!

Its Babywearing Week!!!

Babywearing is not my "thing" as far as passion BUT it has been so useful to me and helped me parent a little better. It also made caring for two children a ton easier especially when during growth spurts and fussy time. The baby gets what they need and I am still hands free to tend to the other child.

So here is my top 5 reasons why I love babywearing and I encourage you to give it a try!!!

Me and Nursling walking around the neighborhood

5) No need to carry that heavy car seat everywhere or worry about toting that larger then life stroller!

This is my little life hack. With my oldest I recall standing in Target's parking lot trying to pull out the heavy over sized stroller from the trunk of my Nissan Sentra (yup that trunk is small!) and then attempt that "one handed open" which usually takes two hands. Once I get the stroller all "set up" now I have to remember to lock the wheels (yup I've had run away stroller before) then go and unhook the heavy car seat from the base that seems to gain 10 tons for every pound the baby gains then put it properly inside the stroller (listen for the 'click'). There goes 10-15 minutes of  my life only to get in there and the baby is screaming her head off because she wants out! With my second I discovered the wonderful world of babywearing and it was great! I just tied my Mei Ti on me insert baby and kept it moving and if baby decides that she wanted to eat while I was shopping all I had to do was loosen it a little and let her nurse in the carrier. All was right and I was free to spend my entire pay check in Target uninterrupted.

4) What crying baby??

Babies love to be held especially new babies! They were inside of your belly for 40+ weeks and go to feel all the swaying and rocking motions of you walking around plus the soft rhythm of your heartbeat. Its only natural that they seek comfort in that now that they are on the outside. When babies are crying because they just want the comfort of being next to your heart what easy way to soothe then to just pick them up? The downfall to this is that holding a baby all day is not conducive to being productive so now what is a mama to do?? Grab your wrap or carrier!! Wearing babies give them the feeling of being in arms, they hear your heartbeat, they can feel your skin and it calms them quickly. So calming most sleep the entire time they are being worn. If you have a colicky baby or one that has the normal "crying time" or "witching hour" babywearing can help with this too!! With my second I got lots of stuff done and I didn't have to negotiate with a crying infant who just wanted to be held in order to get it done. To this day my nursling who is 19 months can still be put to sleep in a carrier and the storm of a tantrum can be calmed by just putting her on my back!

3) No that is not my kid running up and down the aisles at Wal-Mart....

.......Well not anymore.....I think this is self explanatory. My kid is on my back viewing the world from my point of view seeing all of things on the shelf and all of strangers at "mom level" which can be less intimidating. I know you are saying "put the kid in a cart" well easier said then done my friend most small children have the attention span of a fly and putting them in the cart is short lived. In the cart they can be easily distracted by all the noises sounds and other people. While the distraction is still there in a carrier I can hone my little back in on the task at hand which is "why does Wal-mart never have what I need?" and "why do I STILL shop here??" Wearing baby also keeps your baby close during crowd situations like at the mall, a theme park, or even the airport. You need not worry about your child "getting away" from you as they will be wrapped or strapped to you. My husband jokes that during the Zombie Apocalypse all I would have to do is run. We are already carrying the precious cargo lol

Retired Nursling and Nursling at Petsmart

2)  Nothing like carrying around an extra 10 pounds to melt away the baby weight!

Most new moms (myself included) worry about getting rid of that baby weight after you have your baby. Breastfeeding helps because it does burn those extra calories but wearing your baby is like wearing a weight on you all day and it gets HEAVIER! So while you are walking around the neighborhood or the mall or Target :) just know that you are burning a little extra calories because not only are you moving with your weight you are carrying the weight of your baby too!  Some women (myself included) also do exercises while wearing baby. Some participate in yoga, low impact cardio, and muscle strengthening exercises. Even the task of vacuuming and sweeping can help you to work up a sweat when you have a baby on your back! They can be quite easy to do and the baby really enjoys them too! Check your local yoga studios or gyms to see if they offer mommy and me classes or babywearing classes.

1) Bonding made simple minus the pressure of the bottle!

Brittany Marsh "Master of the Wrap"

Babywearing is good for the baby! It stabilizes his little system and it makes him feel more secure in his environment. With this security comes trust. Trust in his caregivers and the environment is important for his survival literally and with in the house (we gotta keep the parents out of the looney bin!) A good way for baby to bond to other people outside of mama is baby wearing and the skin-to-skin that it encourages. The baby will hear the caregivers heart beat, get used to their motions and rhythms and the sound of their voice and the way they smell. Babies love human contact and the feel of skin on their skin. This will help the caregiver as well because they can smell that "newborn smell" that has been shown to get those love hormones flowing and increase bonding. What a better way to bond with a baby then to snuggle and cuddle like nature intended? I love seeing daddy's wearing their babies in stores and out and about and even better grandparents!!!!


Some of my favorite carriers are:

The Moby Wrap for the newborn period
The Mei Tai for high back carries in older infants
The Ergo baby carrier for every day and back carries also my husband finds this carrier easier for him
A Ring Sling (any will do) for quick and easy in and out wearing and comes in a ton of colors for outfit coordination :)

 When selecting a carrier always keep their hips in mind as well as other safety precautions:

For more information on babywearing and how to get started here are some great resources that helped me a ton!:

The Natural Child Project
Britt Brown Marsh Blog
Babywearing International
Babywearing International of Hampton Roads
Babywearers of Color (facebook)

HAPPY BABYWEARING WEEK!!!!